Daily Brief Health Care: IntelliCentrics Global Holding, Akeso Biopharma Inc, Lotus Pharmaceutical, Newron Pharmaceuticals, Premier Health of America and more

• On 9 February, IntelliCentrics Global Holding (6819 HK) announced the disposal of most of its assets to symplr software. On 19 March, the antitrust condition was satisfied.
• The consideration will be distributed to shareholders as a special dividend. The minimum and maximum special interim dividends are US$0.52 (HK$4.08) and US$0.55 (HK$4.30) per share.
• The key condition is EGM shareholder approval. Due to the irrevocables from key shareholders, the EGM vote should comfortably pass. This is a done deal.

• Akeso’s product sales grew rapidly in 2023, mainly driven by off-label use of AK104. Since AK104’s commercialization potential on other indications was “overdrawn” in advance, sales growth would slow afterwards. 
• The key investment logic of Akeso is whether/how much its BsAb pipelines would grab shares from PD-1. The high valuation has somewhat priced in AK112’s successful head-to-head trial with pembrolizumab.
• If AK112 does beat Keytruda, valuation will reach a new level. If AK112 fails in critical clinical trials, it would cast a shadow on the entire BsAb pipeline of Akeso.

• Akeso Biopharma Inc (9926 HK) is looking to raise US$155m from its primary placement.
• Proceeds from the deal would be geared towards R&D expenditure for its preclinical programs, expediting clinical trials, and towards commercializing its existing approved products.
• Accounting for 3% of shares outstanding, and representing 5.7 days of its three month ADV, the deal would be a relatively small one for the firm to digest.

• Lotus Pharmaceutical (1795 TT) achieved 16% revenue growth to NT$17B in 2023, while net profit increased 36% to NT$4B. Growth was mainly driven by the strong performance of Asian business.
• For the first two months of 2024, the company reported revenue of NT$3B, representing 1% YoY decline. While exports grew, Asia business remained flat. 
• 1Q24 should be flat or slightly negative for the company, while growth is expected to pick up from the later half of the year.

Newron Pharmaceuticals has reported results for FY23, an active period for its lead asset, evenamide, being developed for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and poorly managed schizophrenia (non-TRS). Strong 12-month data were shared in January 2024 from the Phase II trial (study 014/015) in TRS patients, and management is gearing up to launch a potentially pivotal Phase III trial. We expect the next major catalyst to be results of the Phase III trial (study 008A) in non-TRS patients, now anticipated in April. Improved liquidity following the recent equity raise and renegotiated debt repayment terms with the EIB provides headroom into 2025, by which time we anticipate a licensing deal for evenamide. We have revised our estimates, segregating evenamide’s potential across TRS and non-TRS populations, and refined some of our assumptions. Our valuation increases to CHF219.1m or CHF12.3/share (CHF7.7/share previously).

• Premier Health of America is a leading healthcare staffing company in Canada with rapid growth through acquisitions
• Recent transformational acquisition expected to nearly double revenues and EBITDA
• CFO’s purchase of shares at $0.38 per share indicates a potential value of $1.20 per share, significant upside from current market price

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.